Police shoot, kill man holding hairbrush, witnesses sayStory HighlightsNEW: Witness says, "The boy didn't have no gun, he had a brush on him"Man had history of mental illness, AP reports, ignored orders to haltPolice kill Khiel Coppin, 18, after reports of a family dispute and a weaponhttp://www.cnn.com/2007/US/11/13/ny.shooting/?iref=mpstoryviewNew York Times: Cops fired 20 shots, realized Coppin held only a hairbrush

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Officers shot and killed an 18-year-old man who they believed to be armed, New York police said, but witnesses said Tuesday he was only holding a hairbrush. Officers in New York early Tuesday guard the scene of a police shooting that left a teen dead. The Monday night shooting followed a 911 call from the man's mother. Police described the situation as "a family dispute with a gun." After officers arrived, the teen refused to halt as he approached police, prompting them to open fire, The Associated Press reported. Police told The New York Times they believed the teen, Khiel Coppin, had a gun, but after five officers fired 20 shots they realized he was holding only a hairbrush. "The boy didn't have no gun, he had a brush on him," said Andre Wildman, a neighbor who told CNN that he saw the shooting. Watch witnesses describe the shooting » Another neighbor, Wayne Holder, said police should be required to see a weapon before opening fire on a suspect. "At least see a gun before you start to discharge it," Holder said. Police "don't even have to see it, [if] they think you got one, you're going to get shot." The AP reported that the teen had a history of mental illness and his mother had tried to have him hospitalized earlier in the day. A bystander who said he saw the shooting told CNN affiliate WABC-TV that the man was unarmed. "He dropped the brush," said the bystander, Dyshawn Gibson. "He put his hands up. Police just started firing."

As the teen approached officers, police ordered him to stop, police spokesman Paul Browne told AP. The teen refused and continued to approach, Browne said, prompting police to open fire. An initial police statement given to reporters Monday night said the man was seen earlier pacing around the apartment. "He began screaming from the window at his mother and the police," the police statement said. "At some point, the male climbed out of the window and began crossing the sidewalk toward the police." That's when police began firing, a police spokesman said. The police spokesman said officers were called to the apartment building in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood at about 7 p.m. by Coppin's mother who said she was having a dispute with her son. According to a statement, police said Coppin's mother reported that her son was armed. But The New York Times quoted police who said Coppin himself was overheard on the mother's 911 call threatening to kill her and claiming "I have a gun."

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All eyes are opened, or opening, to the rights of man. The general spread of the light of science has already laid open to every view the palpable truth, that the mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately

This shooting happened a few blocks from my apartment, actually. I can understand why CNN would report it this way. After all, they are interested in upsetting race relations.

From what I am hearing from the local media (media that I respect);- The mother called for mental health services to come 'intercept' her son.- Mental services arrived, and he was not there, they waited, he did not show up.- Later, the son came back, "barricading" himself in the mothers home.- The mother then called 911 and told them her son had a gun.- When police arrived, the mother was at that time outside the housing project in question.- The police 'surrounded' the building and attempted to negotiate with the son.- Next thing that happens, the son attempts to sneak out a back window, only to be cornered by police.- He reportedly had his hand up inside his shirt and refused to show his hand when ordered too.- This is when the son reportedly 'charged' at the police officers, and was shot & killed.

Some suspect this may have been a 'suicide by police', as its called. There is an investigation underway. Thats all that is publicly known, to my knowledge.

My thoughts: It's sad that somebody that needs mental help can't get it until crisis emerges. I blame our society for this event. Summing it up as 'Unarmed black man executed by racist police' is really, in my opinion, off the mark. And some people are trying to spin it that way. I don't feel the need to defend police action. However, there have been several cases of questionable shootings here in recent years, and this seems the least among them. All in my opinion, of course.

Does that mean you have some personal knowledge that is different than what was reported?

Did you talk to any of the witnesses? Do you have some video of the execution of a teenager in a US city?

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I can understand why CNN would report it this way. After all, they are interested in upsetting race relations.

What? You mean like Lou Dobbs being racist? What are you talking about? An 18 year old is an 18 year old what does race have to do with it? You were the one who brought race into this, was there a particular reason?

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From what I am hearing from the local media (media that I respect);

Could you please provide the local media sources rather than just generic talking points with no actual evidence?

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- The mother called for mental health services to come 'intercept' her son.- Mental services arrived, and he was not there, they waited, he did not show up.- Later, the son came back, "barricading" himself in the mothers home.- The mother then called 911 and told them her son had a gun.- When police arrived, the mother was at that time outside the housing project in question.

I guess other than the gun thing I do not see the more informative "local" stuff

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- The police 'surrounded' the building and attempted to negotiate with the son.

What? Negotiate what? Did he have a bomb or something? What are they negotiating?

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- Next thing that happens, the son attempts to sneak out a back window, only to be cornered by police.

Cornered by police? Why was he cornered, I thought they were negotiating. I thought they were trying to protect him from himslf. I guess they saved him by killing him huh?

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- He reportedly had his hand up inside his shirt and refused to show his hand when ordered too.

Any video of this, seems quite an important few seconds before the firing squad decided to spray him with 20 shots.

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- This is when the son reportedly 'charged' at the police officers, and was shot & killed.

Gee did he have his arms flailing like the CIA's new ghostbuster's terrorist:

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Some suspect this may have been a 'suicide by police', as its called.

Suicide by police is a fraud and everyone knows it, basically if police open fire on an innocent citizen, the cops get together and say, "since he knew he would die, by him not curling up in the fetal position shows that he wanted us to spray him with 20 bullets even though he posed zero actual threat to society or the cops."

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There is an investigation underway. Thats all that is publicly known, to my knowledge.

And will be covered up like the UF student that was publicly tortured and the Arizona cops that executed the lady while in police custody. These investigations are internal and amount to Cheney investigating Halliburton for paying off public servants.

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My thoughts: It's sad that somebody that needs mental help can't get it until crisis emerges.

My thoughts are this is another of the over 50,000 pieces of evidence that we are living in a police state devoid of actual rights for citizens. We are all subject to the whims of a pyramidic society that abuses its power every chance it gets.

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I blame our society for this event.

What the hell does that even mean? That is like blaming everyone and no one for 9/11 and Katrina. Wow, nice way to divert all attention to public execution by firing squad used to intimidate the general public in big cities.

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Summing it up as 'Unarmed black man executed by racist police' is really, in my opinion, off the mark.

The title is: "New York Times: Cops fired 20 shots, realized Coppin held only a hairbrush." Again you are the one extracting the race card from this obvious abuse of power that goes beyond race.

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And some people are trying to spin it that way.

Yes you.

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I don't feel the need to defend police action.

What does that mean, how could anyone defend this public execution by firing squad and then the obvious cover-up to follow.

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However, there have been several cases of questionable shootings here in recent years, and this seems the least among them. All in my opinion, of course.

Please share with us all of the other police brutality occuring everyday. This is just another piece of the jigsaw puzzle and 10 years ago this would be the top story for over one month. But public execution by firing squad is becoming so commonplace these days that perhaps you have become immune to these crimes against humanity occuring in the USA.

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All eyes are opened, or opening, to the rights of man. The general spread of the light of science has already laid open to every view the palpable truth, that the mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately

Police officers on Monday shot and killed an 18-year-old African American claiming to have a gun, even though the Brooklyn teen's mother informed a 911 operator and officials at the scene that her son was unarmed. Five officers from the NYPD had responded to a frantic 911 call from Denise Owens, who had told an operator that her son, Kheil Coppin, claimed to have a gun. Police officials released an audio recording and transcript of that call on Tuesday. But when a 911 operator called Owens back minutes later to ask for a description of her son, she reported that the boy did not actually have a firearm, according to the Associated Press. When police arrived at Owens' apartment building on Monday night, she again insisted Coppin was not armed and informed a captain at the scene, reports the New York Daily News. The teen, however, taunted responding officers and charged at them with a black hairbrush, an object which police reportedly mistook for a gun. Officers opened fire, fatally shooting Coppin ten times in the upper body and legs.

"Come get me! I have a gun! Let's do this!" the boy had shouted at police, according to the Daily News. In a Tuesday press conference, New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly maintained that officers were acting within department guidelines. Kelly said that Coppin pointed the brush "as if he were aiming a gun," and repeatedly ignored orders to get on the ground. "The teen began screaming from a first-floor window at his mother and officers before climbing out of the apartment window and crossing a sidewalk toward the officers while holding the hairbrush in his hand," according to an AP report. "When officers ordered him to stop, the teen refused and kept approaching them. They began shooting from a distance of 5 to 7 feet, police said." Kelly also said that Coppin had been taking antipsychotic medication and had a history of mental problems. Notes found in his pocket suggested the teen might have wanted to die, according to the police commissioner.

"The notes indicate a bit of a fascination with death, and his statement, ‘kill me, kill me,’ and his mother's statement, in her written statement, that he had talked about suicide, the possibility of suicide," said Kelly. "So that's certainly a distinct possibility.” The incident has enraged some community leaders, who point to the shooting as another instance of overreaction from the NYPD. A neighbor who was a witness to the incident told AP that she heard police tell the boy to "get down." "The boy did not respond to them," she continued. "Next thing gunshots, 'Boom, boom, boom.' The young boy is laying on the ground. They handcuffed him on his back." "This is not a gun," said National Action Network activist Calvin Hunt, holding up a hairbrush in an Associated Press video report. "NYPD, this is not a gun, Commissioner Kelly, this is not a gun. It's a brush." Leaders in the community led a "protest march" to the local police station, reports AP.

The following video is from The Associated Press, broadcast on November 14, 2007.

All eyes are opened, or opening, to the rights of man. The general spread of the light of science has already laid open to every view the palpable truth, that the mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately